Monthly Archives: January 2013

There are no rules or regulations in making a Frittata, only your imagination!

The traditional one, I grew up watching my Mother make, was, Potato and Onion! yummm! that was good! She would cut up the potato into really small chunks and pan fry in a bit of olive oil, untill golden brown on all sides. She would then add chopped onion, sweat them out and add the eggs. The exciting part was when she would grab a plate, put it upside down on top of the frying pan and attempt to flip it over! And flip it over she did, to my wild surprise, lol! How amazing, to watch, over and over again, each time as amazing as the first! When it was ready, she slid it on to a pretty plate and sprinkled it with Parmesan Cheese and on to the table it went!

Breakfast, lunch or dinner, you choose.

FRITTATA WITH PROSCIUTTO AND GOAT CHEESE

4 free roaming chicken Eggs

1 handful, Soft goat cheese, crumbled

3 slices Prosciutto, chopped

1/2 medium Onion, chopped

1 handful of Organic Spinach

Hot Chili Flakes

Sea Salt

Olive Oil for frying

METHOD

Add Eggs to a bowl and beat with a fork

Add ingredients, leaving Spinach for last

Mix well

Add Olive Oil to pan and heat to med

Watch temp and make sure the oil does not get too hot and smoke!

Add the mixture and reduce heat to med low

With a spatula, make holes within the mixture so the liquid firms up and coagulates

This shouldn’t take long, you do not want to cook the bottom to the point of being rubbery

***Please make sure there is no liquid left but some slimy stuff on top!!!***

If you don’t feel confident, please turn your oven to Broil and finish off on the top rack for a couple of min!!!

This is the fun part! Slide a plate, big enough to cover the pan, on top

You may want to wear long sleeves the first time, just in case!

Put your hand firmly on top, (move over to the counter or sink) and 1, 2, 3, FLIP!

This needs to be a gentle but quick motion! Don’t stop half way!

Ta Da!!!

Slide the Frittata off the plate back into the pan, and heat until the bottom firms up, couple of min.

Serves 2 to 4

Great with some toasted gluten free bread with chopped tomatoes, garlic and olive oil!

I know none of us, including myself, are perfect, and there are times when we are out and about and find ourselves hungry and need to eat! Hopefully this article will enlighten you on some of the “food preparation” practices that go on in the world of prepared foods and encourage you to make wiser choices on what you choose to fuel your body!

When I first read this I felt nauseous! I have no idea why this is allowed to be legal! This is mainstream food for a lot of people including children and it makes me ill to know that this is not common knowledge! The only way to find out about our “Food Atrocities” is to be proactive in being informed!

This is an article from a health website that I consider one of the most honest and unbiased, Mercola.com.

I am not here to preach but to enlighten! Do what you will, but at least know what you’re doing!

THE UNSAVOURY TRUTH OF THE McRIB AND OTHER FAKE FOODS!

Story at-a-glance

Sneaky “tricks of the trade” employed by the meat industry include “pink slime” made of otherwise unusable scraps, meat glue, and reconstituted meat—all of which fool you into thinking you’re buying something of higher quality than you are

McDonald’s seasonally-available McRib sandwich contains more than 70 ingredients, including a chemical used in gym shoes and other items requiring a rubbery substance. And the pork is actually a restructured meat product made from the less expensive innards and scraps from the pig

Russia has recently banned U.S. meat supplies after discovering it contains ractopamine—a beta agonist drug that increases protein synthesis, thereby making the animal more muscular. This reduces the fat content of the meat. Ractopamine is known to affect the human cardiovascular system, may cause food poisoning, and is thought to be responsible for hyperactivity, muscle breakdown, and increased death and disability in livestock

As much as 20 percent of ractopamine remains in the meat you buy from the supermarket. Despite potential health risks, the drug is used in 45 percent of U.S. pigs, 30 percent of ration-fed cattle, and an unknown percentage of turkeys

THE UNSAVOURY TRUTH OF THE McRIB AND OTHER FAKE FOODS!

and Why Russia Banned US-Raised Meat

January 16, 2013 | 103,393 views

Visit the MERCOLA VIDEO LIBRARY

By Dr. Mercola

Over the past couple of years, we’ve learned the unsavory truth about “pink slime,” reconstituted meat, and how the use of meat glue cheats you out of your hard-earned money at the grocery store and threatens your health.

We’ve also learned that fast food fare such as McDonald’s hamburgers contain so many chemicals and so few real food ingredients that a burger fails to show signs of decomposition after more than a decade…

The famous McDonald’s McRib also came under closer scrutiny, and turned out to be something less than mouthwatering. The McRib sandwich is a non-standard item on the fast food restaurant’s menu;1 its annual return is always advertised with great fanfare — last year it even made the headlines on ABC News.2

The pork sandwich is described as a tasty fan favorite slathered in tangy barbecue sauce, slivered onions and tart pickles, served on a hoagie style bun. Sounds perfectly normal, but what’s it made of, really? In a November 2011 article, CBS Chicago news3 spilled the beans on this seasonal favorite:

“More than 70 ingredients make up the McRib and, yes, one of them is pork. But as CBS 2’s Vince Gerasole reports, there’s also an ingredient that can be found in shoes… [Registered dietician Cassie] Vanderwall gave the McRib a closer look and found the McRib has azodicarbonamide, which is used to bleach the flour in bread. It has other uses. ‘It could be on your yoga mat, in your gym shoes, in your anything that’s rubbery,’ Vanderwall said…

Then there’s the pork – which is really restructured meat product. In other words, it’s made from all the less expensive innards and castoffs from the pig… Vanderwall said the McRib ingredient list ‘reminds me of a chemistry lab.’”

To see pictures of a ‘deconstructed’ McRib sandwich, check out foodfacts.info’s McRib page.4 It sure doesn’t look so appetizing anymore once the sauce is washed off and the meat sliced in half. In fact, it can barely pass meat, which was the point CBS news tried to make in the first place.

What is “Food” Anyway?

Two years ago, the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine singled out McDonald’s in their advertisement against obesity-related deaths. As the ad claimed, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension and heart attacks are hallmark diseases associated with a fast food diet – a clear indication that it does not provide the appropriate nutrition for your body.

So, is McDonald’s fare really food?

When you consider the fact that a large number of the ingredients in a fast food meal exist nowhere in nature, but are rather concocted in a lab, the answer would have to be ‘no.’ Unfortunately, and to our severe detriment, ever since the advent of the so-called TV dinner back in the 1950’s, the concept of “food” has expanded from meat, vegetables, raw dairy products, fruit and other such natural items to include the highly processed, preserved, artificially flavored and often brightly colored chemical concoctions. But man simply was NOT designed to thrive on man-made chemicals.

Sadly, store-bought foods you might not recognize as processed, such as ground beef, are oftentimes no better. As reported last year, approximately 70 percent of the ground beef sold in U.S. supermarkets contains “pink slime” added in as a cheap filler.

The Pepto-Bismol-colored concoction consists of beef scraps and cow connective tissues, which has been treated with ammonium hydroxide (basically a solution of ammonia in water). It can legally make up 15 percent of any given beef product, which shaves about three cents off the cost for a pound of ground beef. The trimmings used come from parts of the cow that are most likely to be contaminated with dangerous bacteria like E. coli — which is why it must be treated with ammonia to kill off the pathogens in the first place. It’s really industrial food practices like this that pose very real threats to your health, not raw unpasteurized dairy products and other non-processed whole foods…

Russia Throws Poisonous Meat Back to U.S.

In related “questionable food” news, Russia has recently banned U.S. meat supplies after discovering it contains ractopamine — a beta agonist drug that increases protein synthesis, thereby making the animal more muscular. This reduces the fat content of the meat. As reported by Pravda,5 Russia is the fourth largest importer of US meats, purchasing about $500 million-worth of beef and pork annually.

The drug is banned for use in 160 countries, including China and Russia, but allowed in 24 countries, including Canada and the United States. According to the New York Times,6 the ban took effect as of December 7, 2012, and Russian health regulators stated that while they will initially conduct their own testing, foreign countries will soon be required to certify their meat as ractopamine-free if they want to export it to Russia. While the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) considers ractopamine safe and doesn’t test for it, Russia’s chief health inspector, Gennady Onishchenko, claims there are “serious questions” about the safety of the drug. He told the New York Times:

“For instance, use of ractopamine is accompanied by a reduction in body mass, suppression of reproductive function, increase of mastitis in dairy herds, which leads to a steep decline in the quality and safety of milk.”

Ractopamine is also known to affect the human cardiovascular system, and may cause food poisoning, according to Pravda.7 It’s also thought to be responsible for hyperactivity, muscle breakdown, and increased death and disability in livestock. While other drugs require a clearance period of around two weeks to help ensure the compounds are flushed from the meat prior to slaughter (and therefore reduce residues leftover for human consumption), there is no clearance period for ractopamine. In fact, livestock growers intentionally use the drug in the last days before slaughter in order to increase its effectiveness.

According to veterinarian Michael W. Fox, as much as 20 percent of ractopamine remains in the meat you buy from the supermarket. Despite potential health risks, the drug is used in 45 percent of U.S. pigs, 30 percent of ration-fed cattle, and an unknown percentage of turkeys.

Mexico and Brazil have announced that they will comply with Russia’s demand for ractopamine-free meats.8 The US has shown no sign of coming to an agreement, however. Instead the US has accused Russia of violating World Trade Organization (WTO) rules — an accusation Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich has dismissed as being part of business as usual, since “all WTO members break these rules.”

How to Identify REAL Food

There are major incentives to center your diet on real foods as opposed to “food-like” products, the primary one being that real food is essential for optimal health. Real foods also taste delicious, and when bought from sustainable sources help to protect the environment. But with all the sneaky tricks being employed, how can you tell the difference? Here’s a listing of the characteristics and traits of real food versus processed “food products.”

Real Food Processed Food-Like Products
It’s grown, and sold “whole” Produced, manufactured in a factory, and sold in neat, convenient packages
Variable quality Always the same (no quality or taste variance)
Spoils fast Stays “fresh” for extended periods of time
Requires preparation No preparation required, just heat and serve
Vibrant colors and rich textures Contains fillers, additives and preservatives to make otherwise dull and bland mixtures appetizing
Authentically flavorful Artificially flavorful
Strong connection to land and culture No connection to land or culture
Shopping Guidelines for Real, Health-Promoting Food

As the U.S. agriculture industry now stands, antibiotics, pesticides, genetically engineered ingredients, hormones and countless drugs are fair game for inclusion in your food. So if you purchase your food from a typical supermarket, you’re taking the chance that your food is teeming with chemicals and drugs — even those that have been banned in other countries due to adverse health effects.

So please do your health a favor and support the small family farms in your area. You’ll receive nutritious food from a source that you can trust, and you’ll be supporting the honest work of a real family farm.

It all boils down to this: if you want to optimize your health, you must return to the basics of healthy food choices. Put your focus on WHOLE foods — foods that have not been processed or altered from their original state — food that has been grown or raised as nature intended, without the use of chemical additives, drugs, hormones, pesticides, fertilizers, and “mystery concoctions” of discarded scrap parts.

It’s really as simple as that!

And it’s not nearly as daunting a task as it may seem to find a local farmer that can supply your family with healthy, humanely raised animal products and produce. At LocalHarvest.org, for instance, you can enter your zip code and find farmers’ markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, all with the click of a button. Once you make the switch from supermarket to local farmer, the choice will seem natural, and you can have peace of mind that the food you’re feeding your family is naturally wholesome. That said, regardless of where you do your grocery shopping, these are the signs of high-quality, health-promoting foods you want to look for:

It’s grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers (organic foods fit this description, but so do some non-organic foods)
It’s not genetically modified
It contains no added growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs
It does not contain any artificial ingredients, including chemical preservatives
It is fresh (keep in mind that if you have to choose between wilted organic produce or fresh conventional produce, the latter may actually be the better option)
It did not come from a factory farm
It is grown with the laws of nature in mind (meaning animals are fed their native diets, not a mix of grains and animal byproducts, and have free-range access to the outdoors)
It is grown in a sustainable way (using minimal amounts of water, protecting the soil from burnout, and turning animal wastes into natural fertilizers instead of environmental pollutants)
If the food meets these criteria, it is most likely a wise choice, and would fall under the designation of “real food.” Keep in mind that reclaiming your kitchen is part and parcel of healthful living, so you know exactly what you’re putting in your body. If you need help to get started, see Colleen Huber’s helpful tips on how to eat healthier organic food on a budget. And if you’re “hooked” on fast food and other processed foods, please review my article How to Wean Yourself Off Processed Foods in 7 Steps. It’s one of the absolute most positive life changes you could make!

This recipe is so easy and super delicious. Great for when you’re having a craving for something smothered in tomato sauce! I came up with this when I was making my Quinoa Lasagna. I had some left over ingredients so I just threw this together and enjoyed every last mouthful! Hope you do to!

First of all……Happy 2013 everyone! Can you believe it! I hope everyone greeted the New Year with good health, happiness and hope, for an always better tomorrow!

My first blog of the year will address a very important issue! Getting back on track of all the healthy choices we made BEFORE we entered the holiday season! Hopefully depending on when “the choices were made”, it won’t be too difficult to pick up where we left off.

I myself, was concerned as to how I was going to get back, “to a place I thought I would never get back to”, again! A place where my tummy was happy, I was sleeping better, wasn’t puffy, wasn’t phlegmy, sorry about that, but it’s true! AND I had finally lost that dreaded last 5 lbs which is almost impossible to lose! I had started to see my waist again! That very elusive part of the human body! How much damage did I really do by getting sucked back into eating things I’d given up, things I KNOW are not good for me?

Why do we do it, why do we continue to think that, maybe, just maybe it’s not real. Maybe we’re just imagining it! We CAN eat everything, everyone else does! WRONG! Lol, you know it, I know it. It’s just a matter of how long will it take us to realize it and make it stick!

I am about to share with you a very important word! A word which I was very well aware of, but didn’t quite comprehend the real meaning. A word, which the real meaning can only be learned through experience. The word is MODERATION! Lets not kid ourselves, in a world of fake and bad food, it is increasingly difficult, not only stick to a healthy lifestyle, but to choose what is real and what is fake! Marketing, has become a game! A game which, not only wants to sell you, but to trick you!

That’s where moderation comes in. Moderation doesn’t mean on a daily basis. If you look it up, it says, “observing reasonable limits”. This can only be learned with your own experience. Learn to read the signs that your body gives you. Pay attention and learn! If you feel gross after you eat something……unless you’re one of these people who say, “but I like it”………well then don’t complain!

I started my New Year, exercising, drinking plenty of green drinks and eating clean and healthy, in a warm and sunny place! Now that the holidays are gone, and I’ve thrown out all but the dark chocolate, hehe, my weakness! I figure I have until the next holiday in the spring, to hone a new routine which I can stick to!